WWE All Stars is one of the greatest wrestling games we've played in years, thanks to a gameplay system that's well balanced, a smorgasbord of wrestlers, a variety of options (again, Fantasy Warfare is a must) and a solid presentation.

WWE All-Star revels in its absurdness. By moving away from what pro-wrestling actually is -- slow, fake, melodramatic -- WWE All-Stars is closer to what we imagine wrestling to be -- fast, violent, an epic battle between two, three or even four men who unleash not one, but dozens of blows and acrobatics that defy mortality and take a folding chair to Isaac Newton's head.

WWE All Stars may not be the modern-day hardcore fan's dream game, but it comes pretty close to accomplishing that for casual and ex-fans, especially those who watched the Hulk and The Ultimate Warrior take each other on two decades ago.

The roster is a dream come true for most fans and the testosterone-fueled, simplistic and at the same time extremely exaggerated action makes this one easy to recommend to both the fans and non-fans alike, especially for those who have been looking for a more arcade-like experience.

This game has more than surpassed my expectations after I dismissed it after watching those hokey gameplay trailers. I admit that I had fully written the game off as nonsense, and am now fully willing to receive my serving of crow for it.

All in all, while it was far from perfect WWE All Stars did surprise me, and I found myself having a lot more fun with it than I thought I would. If you're looking for a fun wrestling game that harkens back to old school wrestling games and is fun to play with friends, WWE All Stars is certainly recommendable.

WWE All Stars is a perfect fit for a new WWE video game, it's over-the-top, greatly exaggerated, and best off all it appeals to long time fans thanks to its legendary roster, which makes All Stars this generation's greatest WWE video game.

Pays as much tribute to the classics as it does the games and superstars of today, reinvigorating the wrestling genre with a fast, fun pace that most anyone could appreciate. If you dig classic wrestling games but are turned off by the ultra-complex, sim-oriented direction the genre has taken, then WWE All Stars is exactly what you've been waiting for.

Fighting game fans and wrestling fans alike are sure to enjoy the fast paced action and insane gameplay which will keep you coming back for more time and time again. The game can be played again and again and again, it calls you back each and every time.

Digitized world of wrestling gets even closer of the beat'em'up genre. Simplified mechanics and exaggerated graphics highlight this transition from Smackdown series. Wrestling is fun with a friend, solo wrestling is only for Monty Python. [May 2011]

With a good assortment of modes and wrestlers to unlock (and hopefully some DLC wrestlers as well) the hardcore fan should be appeased, and with the focus on movement rather than grappling less hardcore fans will find something to love.

Easy to learn controls, over the top graphics, online gameplay and some of the best Superstars from past and present all packed into one title makes for some great WWE fun. There are definitely some gameplay flaws that can make the title a bit frustrating; however with that in mind THQ has accomplished what they set out to do with WWE All-Stars. They made a fun and enjoyable game and a WWE title for fans past, present and future.

WWE-All Stars is an all-star beginning for this arcade wrestling series. It's almost as fun as Aki's N64 wrestling games and it features a roster of legends and superstars that aren't available in Smackdown vs. Raw.

If you've found yourself underwhelmed by the lack of grandeur in other wrestling games, WWE All Stars is where you belong. Like NBA Jam, the game will not send you into another world for hours at a time or offer a profound single-player experience. It will, however, let you toss your friend twenty feet in the air and then stomp on his balls.

The personalities are great, and brilliantly caricatured. The matches are as much fun to watch as they are to play. The attempts to add variety don't always work - four-player tag teams are fun, but the rest is fairly uninspired - so it might not last too long without DLC.

It's an exciting game that's entertaining in a way that no wrestling game has been for a generation or more. And it's all backed up by a great roster of current and past WWE performers, letting you relive a few classic moments while also letting you put together matches that wouldn't be possible today.

If you fancy yourself any kind of a wrestling fan, do not let the flaws present here dissuade you from playing what is easily the most enjoyable wrestling game in years. Let the hardcore fans have their intense simulation. At its core, the WWE has always been about entertainment value, and wrestling games do not come much more entertaining than this. Just bear in mind that there's definitely some room for expansion and improvement in the inevitable sequel.

Still, the game is a load of fun and arguably the best professional wrestling game to come out in many years. I know that wrestling purists would say that the arcade style slam-and-jam nature of All Stars is not an accurate representation of their beloved sport - but put the controller in their hands for ten minutes, and even the hardest of the diehards will be won over.

THQ has done a fantastic job of cherry-picking the best elements of wrestling with some of the most recognizable characters and stars in a visually fantastic package. Unfortunately, it's a good foundation with some major holes. The lack of select wrestlers, missing match variety, anemic campaigns and pointless create-a-character undermine a very good wrestling game/fighting game fusion.

A competent re-imagining of an outrageous spectacle that has been entertaining fans for more than half a century. Gladiatorial machismo is the source material of the game, as it should be; it doesn't need to be more than that.

All Stars serves up some fun arcade-style play and great mix of Legends and modern-day Superstars. However, the game's slow loading sorely needs to be fixed; and its Create A Superstar mode could definitely use a little more beefing up.

All Stars is a game that could have been much more than it is. Its striking visual style and focus on over-the-top action should have been a perfect fit for the wrestling world, but the lack of variety brings down the overall experience. With no mode feeling like anything more than a glorified series of exhibition matches, it seems like less than a full game. I hope that THQ gives this formula another shot, because it could be a great companion series to Smackdown vs. Raw if it comes back with a more substantial experience.

Although WWE All Stars offers mild depth with its counter-system, it's mostly an easily accessible fighting-game meant for the nostalgic WWE-fan. One side-note: the WWE-series with oversimplified controls, faster gameplay and a catroony style turned the series around a different corner. The real WWE-fan – excluding the average gamer – might mourn over this. As a nice, quickly satisfying game, WWE All Stars is a fine and refreshing choice.

WWE All-Stars is a good game of arcade wrestling. The gameplay mechanics could use some tweaks to lean more towards an easy pick up and play style wresting game. With that being said if your growing tired of the Smackdown vs. Raw series or haven't played a wrestling game in the last five years, this would be a good place to start.

The arcade style gameplay -as well as the few available modes- may alienate some of the franchise's old fans, but that doesn't mean WWE All Stars lacks the quality and enjoyment that define THQ's games.

Its brevity is the main cause for concern with a limited number of modes and a faltering online community, but it's not quite enough to detract from the amount of fun garnered from its brand of outlandish wrestling action.

WWE All Stars succeeds in delivering a more friendly wrestling game, but
gaming modes being too simple and long loading times are defects to be
solved if THQ plans to further evolve this series in the WWE franchise.

WWE All Stars fills a niche as a few evenings worth of entertainment. It is sort of like a Super Smash Bros. for those who know their Rick Martel's from their Mike 'The Miz' Mizanin's. It is a simple, fun brawler that is best enjoyed with a room full of lifelong wrestling fans. Whether it is worth forty pounds of your money, however, is completely down to how often you find yourself in that situation.

The game's simplicity ends up working against it - both in the sense that it's somewhat lacking in content, and that there's really not that much to learn; after half a day's play you'll have more or less mastered everything the combat has to offer, with the exception of the elusive mechanics for reversing attacks. But despite these shortcomings, this is still the most fun WWE title that THQ has produced in quite some time.

But you'll plow through most of what the game has to offer to a single player pretty quickly. And while multiplayer could have been king here, WWE All Stars is also notably lacking in both online and off...But it does offer a silly, accessible and effortlessly entertaining brawler that will particularly appeal to lapsed WWE fans.

It's far from perfect – held back by how much is missing in far too many places – but WWE All Stars is a very welcome change and if nothing else a very encouraging base for the future, and definitely worth some of your time.

That said, overall WWE All Stars is a fine package and will give you a good few hours of fun in the single player, but stick with the offline multiplayer action to get the most of the game. The over the top action of professional wrestling is superbly recreated and is only let down by awful load times.

For $60, wrestling game fans expect deep rosters and a variety of match types, while fighting fans hope for an assortment of modes with great replay value. Unfortunately, WWE All Stars isn't able to provide enough of either to propel the enjoyable combat to the top rung of championship-caliber fighting games.

Wrestling fans will have fun when they pick this one up but I don't know how long it'll last as it's a bit shallow. On the flip side, the nuanced combat isn't going to suck in players looking for a simple, arcade experience.

What seems promising at first soon devolves into a monotonous chore of timed reversals and little else. All Stars' take on the WWE is a charming one but, it ultimately falls flat thanks to a lack of depth to both the gameplay and the game modes.

As a full-priced title, we simply can't recommend WWE All Stars at this point in time, though anyone that wants to throw caution to the wind and revel in the undeniable appeal of WWE's past and present colliding will still find plenty to justify their decision.

All Stars will put a smile on the face of any lapsed wrestling fan pining for the simple, undemanding action of the WWF games of yore. Still, it's hard to justify paying the full RRP for a game that seems to go out of its way to have as little depth as possible.

WWE All Stars contains arcade-style wrestling that borrows freely from regular fighting games, introducing concepts such as juggling to a genre that doesn't quite benefit from it. The inprecise controls are frustrating, and overall the game offers a decisively average gameplay experience.

This game is precisely what I had hoped they would deliver - simple, fun game play with mass appeal. It may not be overwhelmingly deep, butThis game is precisely what I had hoped they would deliver - simple, fun game play with mass appeal. It may not be overwhelmingly deep, but rather than feel "lacking", it seems as though they executed on a single idea: a polished fighter, based on wrestlers.

I hope this is the direction that games in this genre start to migrate. It's over the top, hilarious, exciting. There are certainly things I'd like to see in the next game, but this is a beyond solid first effort. See you in the squared circle.…Full Review »

This game is like a medicine it needs to be taken in small amounts. Otherwise if you did what I did (sat there and played for 5 hours) It willThis game is like a medicine it needs to be taken in small amounts. Otherwise if you did what I did (sat there and played for 5 hours) It will be boring as hell afterward. There are 2 modes there is story mode where they all lead you to wrestlemania. You can play 3 different story's, the undertaker story (and in all of these you have to pick a wrestler to go against that person in the story) the DX story and the Randy Ortan story and when you done with that you can do a mode where you can play matches in 2 different generation picking which generation character to go against the other generation (confusing I know) But this dose complete its goal of being over the top crazy but it has limited replay value.…Full Review »

This game is simple, but it has amazing graphics, visuals, and enough moves for you to customize your character in the Moveset editor. If youThis game is simple, but it has amazing graphics, visuals, and enough moves for you to customize your character in the Moveset editor. If you are looking for something 50% fancy and 50% real, this game is perfect for you, specially if you like wrestling games. The only thing I dislike about this game is that most of the mods are the same and unlocking new characters is the same as playing exhibition mode.…Full Review »